I am not a parent, so I don’t feel qualified to write about parenting issues.  But I have two nieces who have three children between them.  By interacting with my nieces, I see first hand the challenges of being a working mom.  JoJo, my friend is a working mom and a freelance writer.  She has written a great article on the challenges — and joys — of being a working mom.  Check it out…

The daily hustles for a working woman are tireless, especially if she is a mother. We career-driven women want it all. We want our kids to be healthy, happy and all groomed up while acing our careers. However, it becomes tedious if you have to compromise one for the other.

This article is aimed at explaining the art of striking balance between family life and work life.

I have been working as a freelance content writer for the past six years. I have transitioned with my work turning into a married woman from previously being a carefree college girl and later becoming a mother. Trust me; the last phase has been the most challenging, fun and abundant in terms of growth.

When a woman goes through childbirth, it actually has an impact on the physical structure of the brain. Scientifically speaking, you become better at multitasking, and more compassionate, and intuitive. Yes, I’m not kidding; researchers have compared the MRI scans of mothers before and after birth and found some really interesting developments.

So with our newfound energies, we can totally rock the world!

When coaching different women before they spring into a career, I always tell them to absolutely memorize the following tips. These are imperative towards striking a balance between work and kids.

Go Slow

Don’t push yourself for an overnight success. Aim for small reachable goals in terms of career and household chores. For example, I started off by writing 500 hundred words a day when I restarted my career. I slowly built it up towards writing 2,000 words a day, four days a week. The rest of the days I work on connecting with clients on social media. That is how you can divide your work throughout the week and limit the number of hours you spend each day working.

Ditch Perfection

You cannot have a squeaky clean house, a five-course meal, kids playing peacefully and all your work assignments done before time. No. that is not possible. Allot different days to complete different tasks like deep cleaning the house on Mondays and doing laundry on Thursdays. If you have a newborn to take care of, you can check out the top baby sleep rockers to help your little one doze off while you get done with the household chores.

Take Weekends Off

Spend time with your kids, indulge in self-care, host a lunch, or go out with your partner. I used to be immersed in work 24/7. My life was all about writing an introduction; changing a diaper; writing the body; feeding my baby; writing conclusion; bathing my baby, putting her to sleep and going back to writing some more. I never took a break. And in return, it took a toll on my health, my relationship and ultimately; my career. So don’t forget to take regular breaks and give yourself a vacation with family.

Be Very Active

This one is pretty obvious. Moms can’t slack off! Take multivitamins; do yoga or cardio, or drink coffee in the morning . . . whatever works for you. But don’t ever leave any task for later.

This usually happens when you stay indulged in social media or spend your time uselessly on Netflix. So be mindful of how much time you spend on distractions and try to cut them down.

Wake up Early

One advantage of early mornings is that you get ahead of everyone else. It’s a peaceful time to get started with the most difficult or time-taking tasks. Waking up early is a big commitment and it might take months before you actually start doing so but for me, this turned out to be an essential element in determining my success.

Build Yourself

Instead of binge-watching television shows, try watching webinars on self-branding, entrepreneurship or anything that is remotely related to your profession. It will not only increase your knowledge of the subject but will also give you tips on how to manage your work efficiently.

Time Blocking

We all have the same number of hours each day. How we use them outlines our success. Time blocking is a technique where you don’t go by the task, you go by the time. For example, by allotting 30 minutes to cleaning the house and twenty minutes to laundry; you can keep track of time spent in doing each task. This is pretty useful when you have a house to run and kids to watch.

Motivation

Last but not the least, motivation is key. Willpower is absolutely necessary to keep you energized throughout the day. There are many different techniques that can strengthen willpower, for example;

• Meditation
• Visualization of goals
• Journaling

When I was going through postpartum blues, I made a habit of visualizing myself daily; that who I am and who I would like to be in six months!

Make sure that you keep your kids a priority. Nothing is more important than the responsibility of raising a human being. Plus, time goes by so fast and they will be grownups in a few years. Make sure you spend enough time with them and always be there for them. Be their best friend. Trust me, one day your child will look up to you as a role model!

Striking the balance between love and passion is difficult but not impossible. We hope that this guide will help you in doing so!

Happy parenting to all career-oriented women. 🙂